Does bottled water contain fluoride or chlorine?
Share
Part of our bottled and other water guide
Some bottled water labels carry a fluoride statement and others are not required to. What do the rules ask for, and what do they leave out? You can check chlorine in a glass of bottled water yourself with a 20-in-1 test strip.
Short answer: It can. For natural mineral water in England, Defra gives a limit of 5.0 mg/l of naturally present fluoride, and a label warning is required above 1.5 mg/l. Defra says disinfection is not permitted for that type, but the pages we read set no chlorine limit for bottled water.
By Andrew Tomlinson, WaterKit · Last reviewed 29 October 2026
Does bottled water have fluoride?
It can, and what you can learn from the label depends on which of Defra's 3 types of bottled water you are holding. The guidance applies to England. The Food Standards Agency covers Wales and Northern Ireland, and Food Standards Scotland covers Scotland, and we did not read either. A strip shows chlorine from its 0.5 mg/l step, and the last section shows how.
| Water | What Defra says about fluoride and the label |
|---|---|
| Natural mineral water | A maximum of 5.0 mg/l for fluoride naturally present at source. The label must carry its composition, and a fluoride statement above 1.5 mg/l |
| Spring water | Must meet limits for chemical, microbial and radioactive substances. Composition need not be on the label |
| Bottled drinking water | The same limits rule. It need not come from an underground source, and composition need not be on the label |
The pages we read for this guide give no fluoride figure for spring water or bottled drinking water, so we do not state one. Our fluoride in UK tap water guide covers the tap side.
What does a fluoride statement on a bottle say?
It says the water contains more than 1.5 mg/l of fluoride and is not suitable for regular consumption by infants and children under 7. Defra's producer guidance says this applies to natural mineral water, with the words in clearly visible characters close to the brand name and the fluoride content in the composition box.
Defra also lists optional label wording. "Contains fluoride" is allowed at 1 mg/l or more, and "contains chloride" at 200 mg/l or more. Chloride, which Defra lists among the anions a producer must measure, is a different substance from chlorine.
Can fluoride be removed from bottled water?
Yes, in natural mineral water. Defra's guidance for local authorities says activated alumina may be used only to remove fluoride. The council must authorise it and give permission at least 3 months before it starts. Defra says no label wording is needed for activated alumina, so a label may not show that it was used. Defra lists only 5 permitted treatments for natural mineral water and says any other treatments are not allowed. We found no official wording on adding fluoride to spring water or bottled drinking water in the pages we read.
Does bottled water have chlorine?
For natural mineral water, Defra says disinfection of the water is not permitted. For the other two types the pages we read set no chlorine limit. The table summarises Defra's England guidance and is not a statement about any particular bottle.
| Water | What Defra's England guidance says about treatment |
|---|---|
| Natural mineral water | Only 5 treatments are allowed, and disinfection is not permitted |
| Spring water | Treatments permitted are "any" in Defra's comparison table |
| Bottled drinking water | Treatments permitted are "any". Our guide on whether bottled water is just tap water covers where it comes from |
Our mineral water versus spring water guide sets the types side by side, and our chlorine in tap water guide covers the tap.
Why might your bottle differ from what you expect?
In our reading, the label describes the water at its source, not the bottle you are holding, because Defra says the producer must take samples of the water at source. A natural mineral water's composition must stay stable over time, and Defra says its levels must not change more than 20% from the first test. A local authority checks at least once a year that the water's composition remains stable. That only covers one type.
Spring water and bottled drinking water need not show their composition at all. Bottled drinking water can use any treatment and need not come from an underground source. A guidance page does not tell you what is in a particular bottle, or how it compares with your own tap. Pouring the bottled water into one clean glass and your tap water into another, then dipping a test strip in each, shows whether either reaches the chlorine pad's 0.5 mg/l step, in our reading of the chart.
“I would treat a label as a description of the source rather than a promise about the particular bottle in your hand. Spring water and bottled drinking water need not list their composition.”
Can you check chlorine or fluoride yourself?
You can check chlorine from the 0.5 mg/l step, but the strip cannot show fluoride at these limits. Dip one strip in a clean glass of the water, wait 30 to 60 seconds and match the pads to the chart, or enter the colours in the free results checker. We have not run strips on bottled water, so the right-hand column is WaterKit's own reading of the chart steps.
| Pad | Official figure in our sources | Chart steps | What the chart can show |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free and total chlorine | No bottled water figure found | 0, 0.5, 1, 3, 5, 10, 20 mg/l | Zero indicates none detected at the 0.5 step. A reading at 0.5 or above indicates chlorine at that level |
| Fluoride | Label statement above 1.5 mg/l for natural mineral water | 0, 4, 10, 25, 50, 100 mg/l | The first step is 4 mg/l, so the pad cannot tell a bottle under 1.5 from one over it. We do not offer it as a fluoride check |
Other limits are worth knowing.
- We do not claim the rapid bacteria test for bottled water.
- The strip cannot read lead, mercury, chromium, aluminium, iron, nitrite or fluoride at UK limits, so a clear result on those pads is not a pass. For lead, see our guide to lead pipes.
- A strip result has no legal effect. For a fluoride figure, read a natural mineral water's composition box or ask the producer.
Our home testing guide shows the steps, and our guide to removing chlorine from tap water covers what to do if your tap shows it.
Best pack: 20 strips, enough to test a bottle, your tap and a second bottle for chlorine and still have strips left, £5.99 (or £10.99 with a bacteria test), with free 2nd Class delivery on every order. See the kit
Your bottled water fluoride and chlorine questions
Does bottled water have fluoride? Does bottled water contain fluoride? Is there fluoride in bottled water? Is fluoride in bottled water?
It can. Natural mineral water is limited to 5.0 mg/l of naturally present fluoride and needs a label statement above 1.5 mg/l, and Defra says spring water and bottled drinking water need not list their composition.
Is there fluoride in bottled water UK?
It can. In England, Defra says natural mineral water must state on the label if it contains more than 1.5 mg/l of fluoride, and sets a 5.0 mg/l limit for fluoride naturally present at source. The Defra pages we read apply to England only, and we found no official survey of fluoride in bottled water brands in them.
Does bottled water have chlorine? Is there chlorine in bottled water? Is chlorine in bottled water?
The pages we read give no chlorine figure for bottled water. Disinfection is not permitted for natural mineral water, and Defra lists "any" treatment for spring water and bottled drinking water.
Why is there fluoride in bottled water?
For natural mineral water, Defra's 5.0 mg/l limit covers chemicals naturally present at source. The pages we read do not explain why fluoride is in spring water or bottled drinking water.
What bottled water does not have fluoride in it?
We found no official list. A natural mineral water's composition box may show a fluoride figure, but spring water and bottled drinking water need not carry one, so you may need to ask the producer.
Sources
- Defra, Compare types of bottled water (published 28 May 2020; applies to England; the 3 types, treatments permitted and composition rows; read 29 October 2026).
- Defra, Natural mineral water: rules for local authorities (last updated 9 April 2026; fluoride 5.0 mg/l, no disinfection, activated alumina, stability within 20%, yearly checks, label statement above 1.5 mg/l, optional wording; read 29 October 2026).
- Defra, Natural mineral water: how to produce and label in England (last updated 29 June 2026; labelling, treatments; read 29 October 2026).
- WaterKit, Water Test Kit (20-in-1 strip, 30 to 60 second read, rapid coliform test read after 24 to 48 hours, from £3.99, free 2nd Class delivery on every order) and results portal. The strip-chart column and the comments on expected readings are WaterKit's own reading of the colour chart steps.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.